Data, Information, Knowledge, and
Wisdom

"Wisdom is not a product of schooling
but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it."

Albert Einstein

Computers are often called data processing machines or
information processing machines. People understand and
accept the fact that computers are machines designed for the
input, storage, processing, and output of data and
information

However, some people also think of computers as knowledge
processing machines and even explore what it might mean for
a computer to have wisdom. For example, here is a quote from
Dr. Yogesh
Malhotra of the BRINT Institute:

Knowledge Management caters to the critical
issues of organizational adaption, survival and
competence in face of increasingly discontinuous
environmental change.... Essentially, it embodies
organizational processes that seek synergistic
combination of data and information processing capacity
of information technologies, and the creative and
innovative capacity of human beings.

Individual bits or "bytes" of "raw" biological
data (e.g. the number of individual plants of a given
species at a given location) do not by themselves inform
the human mind. However, drawing various data together
within an appropriate context yields information that may
be useful (e.g. the distribution and abundance of the
plant species at various points in space and time). In
turn, this information helps foster the quality of
knowing (e.g. whether the plant species is increasing or
decreasing in distribution and abundance over space and
time). Knowledge and experience blend to become
wisdom--the power of applying these attributes critically
or practically to make decisions.

Thus, we are led to think about Data, Information,
Knowledge, and Wisdom as we explore the capabilities and
limitations of IT systems

Data

information, often in the form of facts or figures
obtained from experiments or surveys, used as a basis for
making calculations or drawing conclusions

information, for example, numbers, text, images, and
sounds, in a form that is suitable for storage in or
processing by a computer

Information

definite knowledge acquired or supplied about
something or somebody

the collected facts and data about a particular
subject

a telephone service that supplies telephone numbers
to the public on request.

the communication of facts and knowledge

computer data that has been organized and presented
in a systematic fashion to clarify the underlying
meaning

a formal accusation of a crime brought by a
prosecutor, as opposed to an indictment brought by a
grand jury

Knowledge

general awareness or possession of information,
facts, ideas, truths, or principles

clear awareness or explicit information, for example,
of a situation or fact

all the information, facts, truths, and principles
learned throughout time

familiarity or understanding gained through
experience or study

Wisdom

the knowledge and experience needed to make sensible
decisions and judgments, or the good sense shown by the
decisions and judgments made

accumulated knowledge of life or in a particular
sphere of activity that has been gained through
experience

an opinion that almost everyone seems to share or
express

ancient teachings or sayings

Various people have thought carefully about varying
definitions of these four terms and produced their own
analysis of the four terms. The following is quoted from
Jacques
Steyn's Website:

Information consists of data, but data is not
necessarily information. Also, wisdom is knowledge, which
in turn is information, which in turn is data, but, for
example, knowledge is not necessarily wisdom. So wisdom
is a subset of knowledge, which is a subset of
information, which is a subset of data.

Arranging the Terms Along a scale

The terms Data, Information, Knowledge, and Wisdom are
sometimes presented in a form that suggests a scale.

However, in no sense do these four terms define some sort
of linear equal-interval scale. They do, however, help us to
discuss the design of an educational system as well as
current and potential uses of computers. For example, we all
accept that computers can be used for the input, storage,
processing, and output of data. But, there is considerable
disagreement about whether a computer can have knowledge or
be knowledgeable--or have wisdom and be wise.

In the good old days, in the early history of using
computers to do business data processing, computers were
data processing machines. There were lots of workshops and
courses on data processing. "Raw data" was processed to
produce reports that were then analyzed by management to
make management decisions. Hourly time sheets of workers
were processed to produce payroll checks and summary reports
on employee costs.

Later came the idea of computers processing data to
produce information. Payroll data can be put together with
other cost data, sales data, and so on to produce
information about which products are most profitable. The
huge collection of raw data can be processed into reports
that facilitate high level management decisions.

Computer Science Departments became Computer and
Information Science Departments. Terms such as Information
Technology (IT) and Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) arose because they better described the computer
field.

In more recent years, businesses and others have worked
to use computers to process information so that it becomes
or is closely similar to knowledge. Knowledge in a person's
head is used for posing and solving problems, posing and
answering questions, defining decision making situations and
making decisions, posing tasks to be accomplished and
accomplishing the tasks, and so on. Nowadays, computers make
lots of decisions without human intervention. That is, they
receive data as input and they process it in a manner that
produces decisions and actions as output. When a human does
this, we talk about the level of knowledge, skill , and
intelligence that the person has.

The graph below reflects the learning journey
whereby we progressively transform the raw, unfiltered
facts and symbols into information, knowledge, and
eventually into intelligence and wisdom.

The discussion in this section leads to questions such
as:

Can a computer system have knowledge and be
knowledgeable?

Can a computer system have wisdom and be wise?

How should these ideas and answers affect business
and education?

From a Business Point of View

The following three definitions are quoted from Godbout
(January 1999).

Data constitutes one of the primary forms of
information. It essentially consists of recordings of
transactions or events which will be used for exchange
between humans or even with machines. As such, data does
not carry meaning unless one understands the context in
which the data was gathered. A word, a number or a symbol
can be used do describe a business result, inserted in a
marriage contract or a graffiti on the wall. It is the
context which gives it meaning, and this meaning makes it
informative.

Information extends the concept of data in a broader
context. As such it includes data but it also includes
all the information a person comes in contact with as a
member of a social organization in a given physical
environment. Information like data, is carried through
symbols. These symbols have complex structures and rules.
Information therefore comes in a variety of forms such as
writings, statements, statistics, diagrams or charts.
Some information theorists insist on the concept of form
as the differentiating factor and the essence of
information.

Where does knowledge fit in this scenario? Information
becomes individual knowledge when it is accepted and
retained by an individual as being a proper understanding
of what is true (Lehrer, 1990) and a valid interpretation
of the reality. Conversely, organizational or social
knowledge exists when it is accepted by a consensus of a
group of people. Common knowledge does not require
necessarily to be shared by all members to exist, the
fact that it is accepted amongst a group of informed
persons can be considered a sufficient condition. This is
also true of «public domain» knowledge. The
fact that it is readily available in writing or published
material does not entail that everybody should be
knowledgeable about it to meet the condition of being
"common knowledge".

Godbout presents these definitions in an article
discussing roles of computers in the field called "knowledge
management." Knowledge management is of steadily growing
importance in running a business or similar types of
organizations.

Educational Implications

It appears that one of the issues in defining the terms
data, information, knowledge, and wisdom is the role of
understanding and meaning making. One can memorize data, and
parrot it back. One processes data (organizes it into
meaningful chunks?) to produce information. Parroting such
chunks sounds more like being educated--but this can be done
with little understanding or ability to make use of the
information. Knowledge is a step further on the scale. It
involves understanding and ability to make use of the data
and information to answer questions, solve problems, make
decisions, and so on. Wisdom has to do with using one's
knowledge in a responsible (wise) manner.

In recent years, Robert
Sternberg has taken the position that wisdom can and
should be taught in schools, even at the elementary school
level. A summary of his ideas and definitions is available
in the following reference. Quoting from Sternberg.
(November 13, 2002)

When schools teach for wisdom, they
teach students that it is important not just what you
know, but how you use what you know--whether you use
it for good ends or bad. They are teaching for what
the Bush administration referred to recently, in a
White House conference, as the "fourth R":
responsibility. Smart but foolish and irresponsible
people, including, apparently, some who run or have
run major businesses in our country, exhibit four
characteristic fallacies in their thinking.

I define wisdom as the application of intelligence
and experience toward the attainment of a common good.
This attainment involves a balance among (a)
intrapersonal (one's own), (b) interpersonal (other
people's), and (c) extrapersonal (more than personal,
such as institutional) interests, over the short and
long terms. Thus, wise people look out not just for
themselves, but for all toward whom they have any
responsibility.

The ISTE National Educational Technology Standards for
students, teachers, and school administrators all stress the
responsible use of computer systems. Thus, Sternberg's
points of view about teaching wisdom/responsibility are
consistent with the ISTE viewpoint. Or, here is a slightly
different twist on the situation. We want students,
teachers, and school administrators to be responsible, wise
use of computer systems. As students learn to be responsible
and wise, we want transfer of learning to occur among many
different application areas, including IT.

Data, information, knowledge, and wisdom form a
scale, although a rather peculiar scale. The points on
the scale are not closely related even though they are
often talked about at the same time. In this month's
editorial, David talks about the scale and how it is
being affected by information technologies.

I define wisdom as the application of
intelligence and experience toward the attainment of a
common good. This attainment involves a balance among (a)
intrapersonal (one's own), (b) interpersonal (other
people's), and (c) extrapersonal (more than personal,
such as institutional) interests, over the short and long
terms. Thus, wise people look out not just for
themselves, but for all toward whom they have any
responsibility.